


The Contest

by Kitoko_kun



Category: My Chemical Romance
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Girlfriends/No Wives, Anal Sex, Band Fic, Humor, M/M, Masturbation, Porn with Feelings, Semi-Public Sex, Switching, warped 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-27
Updated: 2020-09-27
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:41:41
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 11,021
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26680819
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kitoko_kun/pseuds/Kitoko_kun
Summary: It's 2005 and no one believes Gerard can go the longest among them without jerking off.
Relationships: Frank Iero/Gerard Way
Comments: 24
Kudos: 135
Collections: Warped 2020





	The Contest

Gerard knew the only person he could blame for getting him in that situation was himself. Unless he could somehow pin it on Mikey for wishing to be in a band, or his parents, for conceiving Mikey in the first place, but mostly it was his own fault for not only opening the door to a sexual relationship with Frankie while aware of how desperate for attention he could be, but also taking the first step in flirting with him and getting into his pants, both metaphorically and physically. Ending up responsible for this guy’s boredom and/or horniness was nothing but his own fault.

Normally he could deal with both things easily since they had the same solution, but he was currently busy drawing, and being on tour made those scarce moments precious. Besides, he had already taken all possible precautions to avoid being seen as available; wearing headphones, keeping his gaze on his sketchbook and setting camp in the lounge, a common area where it was strictly forbidden to do stuff like what Frank was trying to instigate by caressing Gerard’s inner thigh with his foot under the table.

“Frankie… I’m having _me_ time,” he tried to explain, batting away Frank’s foot as soon as it tried to press between Gerard’s legs.

“Can I also have some _you_ time?” Frank asked, waggling his eyebrows up and down as an invitation while also poking his cheek with his tongue, in case the first gesture wasn’t clear enough. “I’m offering to suck your dick.” He added. Frank didn’t give a shit about subtlety. 

And okay, yes, maybe Gerard could trade his precious _me_ time for a bit of _we_ time in the sense of Frank’s skillful mouth around his cock, but Gerard being distracted wasn’t really the main obstacle for the offer to be accepted. “We’re not alone.”

“Sure we are!”

“No, you’re not!” Mikey’s voice could be heard from the bunk beds.

“Mikey doesn’t count,” Frank argued.

“I do count!”

Gerard gave him a ‘sorry, nothing I can do’ look along with a shrug, which of course wasn’t enough for Frank. He got closer and whispered: “C’mon, I’ll be quick, he won’t notice…”

“I’m coming over there and there better be room for Jesus between you two!”

While Frank rolled his eyes, Gerard quickly scribbled something on a new paper sheet and placed it between them. “What’s this shit?”

“Jesus,” he explained. It was pretty obvious.

“I’ll fuck my way through Jesus if I have to.”

“God, no!” Ray had just stepped into the bus and caught that last bit. When they turned around to see him, he was covering his eyes with both hands. “Please stop fuckin’ for two seconds, I just came for my phone charger!”

“We’re not fuckin’,” said Gerard.

“Not for a lack of trying…” Frank muttered.

Ray took a peek between his fingers and only lowered his hand when he was 100% sure everyone’s genitals were inside their respective owner’s pants. “That’s it, guys! We’re having a band meeting! Where’s Mikey?!”

“He’s not here,” Frank shrugged.

“I _am_ here!” Mikey complained, walking towards them and making an evident point of how uncomfortable they were by sitting between Frank and Gerard.

“You’re sitting on Jesus,” Frank pointed out.

“Guys,” Ray snapped his finger to get their attention. “Mikey and I have been talking and--”

“Why are you talking to Ray? Talk to me,” Gerard immediately turned to his brother.

“Your tongue’s always down Frank’s throat.”

“Pfft, not always,” Frank actually got offended, thinking it could always be more.

“Look, guys, we know this is a new relationship and you can’t keep your hands to yourselves--”

“I totally can. Frankie’s the handsy one.”

“Dude! What? I’m right here!”

“C’mon, you know it’s true.”

“It’s both of you,” Mikey went into his mediator role and Frank got a big smile on his face, as if it was a great personal achievement not being the only one at fault for traumatizing people around them. “You need to stop it.”

“Well, not stop it altogether, but… it’s getting really uncomfortable.”

“How? You’ve only walked in on us like two times and in just one of them we were actually inside--” Frank started recounting and Gerard interrupted him when he remembered exactly what he was talking about.

“Oh, yeah. That one was awkward.”

“And that’s like, what? Two out of a hundred? You can’t take 2%? Guys, that’s weak.”

Gerard did actual math in his head for a moment until he was ready to agree with the number. An average of three times a day for a month… 100 wasn’t an exaggeration, but it hit him in a weird way. He hadn’t realized how much they were doing it. Mikey and Ray didn’t look pleased with their calculations.

“You’re too loud, okay?” Ray finally said. “It’s not only seeing you, we can fuckin’ hear you.”

“We can hear you fuckin’,” Mikey laughed at his own joke for two seconds and then got serious again. “No, it’s really awkward. We didn’t want to say anything, but… yeah, stop it.”

“Sorry guys, we didn’t realize…”, Gerard scratched his head, getting on his empathetic side. If it were Ray and Mikey having sex all the time it would be awkward to hear them in the bus, specially during the night. 

He looked at Frank and noticed they were both thinking the same. It had gotten out of control, it was time to apologize. “Yeah, sorry…”, Gerard heard him say. “Sorry you’re such hypocrites! You both are fuckin’ loud too!”

“We haven’t brought back anyone to the bus,” Mikey was the one to defend their honor. “We’re decent.”

“Right, like you don’t jerk off and wake up everybody?” Frank went on.

“I haven’t done it in like a month!”

“Sure, Ray, it totally wasn’t you last night in the bathroom whispering about Gwen Stefani.”

Ray’s blush was enough admission of guilt and finding confirmation in the Way brothers’ faces was more humiliation than he would’ve wanted. “Shit, seriously? I thought I was quiet…” Mikey and Gerard shook their heads at the same time. “This fuckin’ bus, man… You can hear everything.”

“Okay, but we’ve always had this problem,” Gerard noted. “What’s the big deal now?”

“You’re way louder together than on your own,” Mikey complained.

“And you are too… um, descriptive,” Ray added.

“You can’t handle a bit of dirty talk?”

“Not when it involves a family member of mine.”

Frank stared at him in deep thought, considering if it was a valid argument or not, until he sadly had to accept because the ‘that’s my brother, you sick fuck’ card was too powerful. “So what’s the idea here? Gee and I don’t fuck until the tour is over?”

“Pretty much”, Mikey immediately accepted.

“Mm, let me think of a counter-offer”, Frank pretended to think, bringing both hands to his chin for a second before flipping the two of them off. Well, the three of them actually, because Gerard wasn’t doing his part in telling them they wouldn’t negotiate with terrorists. “Gee, this affects you too, in case you didn’t realize.”

And it seemed like Gerard hadn’t realized. “Well… yeah, it’s kinda unfair for you to expect us to go back to jerkin’ off when we have each other, you know?”

Frank got a big smile on his face, truly moved by Gerard’s sweet words, and tried to hold his hand, ignoring Jesus was between them. Or Mikey, who slapped his hand away.

“Actually, if you could also not do that…,” Ray clarified. “That’d be great.”

“What? Why?”

“‘Cause you’re the loudest, Gerard,” Mikey had to say. “And you did it ALL-THE-FUCKIN’-TIME before getting with Frank.”

“So I helped the situation!”

“No, this is worse,” Mikey argued, but then stopped and for a second thought. “No, they’re both the worst.” 

“This is bullshit!” Gerard complained, now really getting into the conversation. “Frankie’s way louder than me.”

“You back-stabbing bitch, I was on your side!”

“Guys, GUYS!” Ray had to raise his voice to be heard while Mikey attempted to escape from Frank’s way and Gerard tried to keep him in place as a human shield. “This wasn’t meant to be a fight, only a friendly reminder of bus rules for a happy coexistence, okay? Let’s all try to… do it less often, or somewhere else, or…”

“We should bet on it, who can go the longest without jerking off,” Mikey suddenly proposed. “And it should be like a thousand bucks so I can buy 3 Xboxs and resell them.”

“No way, Mikey,” Gerard shook his head. “I’d win that bet for sure, and keep the Xboxs to myself.”

The expected reaction would have been for each of them to expose their own reason why they thought they would win the bet, but instead they burst out laughing at the idea of Gerard winning. It seemed to be the only thing the three of them agreed on. “No fuckin’ way, I’d bet on anyone but you,” Frank managed to say.

“Sorry, Gee, it’s just true,” Ray apologized, wiping a tear from his eye.

“I don’t know why I’ve gained this fame, but let’s do it. Let’s bet on it, I’ll put money where my mouth is.”

“Yessss!” Mikey celebrated by raising his fist. “C’mon, everybody put in $250.”

None of them dared to lower the amount even though they were not in a position to lose that money, because that would mean admitting they were not completely sure of being able to win the bet.

***

Not even 24 hours had passed since the conversation and the effects were already tangible inside the bus, quiet and tense as ever. Ray had gone out for a jog at 5:30am and wasn’t back yet. Frank had woken up at 7:00am, after getting kicked out from Gerard’s bunk for the third time and giving up to watch SpongeBob SquarePants for a while. Gerard appeared in the lounge after a bit and went straight for the coffee, furrowing his eyebrows and not saying a single word. And Mikey… well, Mikey looked just as usual.

Gerard wasn’t going to admit it, but only waking up and realizing he couldn’t do anything for his morning wood showed him he was maybe more used to releasing tension in that way than he had anticipated. His only consolation was knowing Frank was just as frustrated, as it showed in his excess of energy while bouncing his legs under the table.

“Remind me why the fuck we’re doing this again?” Frank muttered, stirring his coffee way too fast seconds after Gerard gave it to him, spilling it on the table. Before the swirl inside his mug could stop, he was already cleaning up the drops with a napkin; his movements were fast, clumsy and anxious.

“‘Cause some of us had to endure very unfair accusations,” Gerard stated, taking a seat next to him.

“Yeah, me. Can’t believe you had the nerve to say _I’m_ the handsy one.”

“You are.”

“Your hand is on my ass as we speak.”

Mikey, who was laying on the couch in front of the TV, took off his glasses, placed them on the table and sighed deeply, rubbing his hands on his face. He seemed about to absolutely lose it, but a moment later he took another deep breath and got his glasses back on. “I’ll leave you two alone,” he declared, getting up. “And I want the payment in cash, by the way.”

“You’re not going to win, Mikey!” said Gerard, from his seat, subtly removing the hand he had put on Frank’s lower back because he was totally exaggerating and it only had been a reflex. 

“Yeah, what Gee said!” Frank expressed his support vocally, but was trying to get Gerard’s hand back to where it was.

“Sure, have fun!” Mikey turned his back on them and locked the bus on his way out.

“Fuckin’ finally!” Frank celebrated and immediately got up to sit on Gerard’s lap, hugging his neck and getting close to kiss his mouth, which ended up being a kiss on the cheek when he moved to avoid it. That didn’t stop Frank from licking him, leaving a wet stripe on his neck instead.

“Frankie, I meant it,” said Gerard, grabbing his hips to make him sit still. Where the fuck did someone so short store so much energy? “I’m not losing this bet.”

“But the bet is about masturbation.” Frank pointed out, flashing him that ‘I’m smarter than all of you’ smile. “They didn’t say anything about fuckin’, so… excuse me.” He got both hands on Gerard’s belt.

“You know it counts”, Gerard argued, holding his wrists to stop him. “C’mon, don’t make this harder than it needs to.”

“I want it harder than it needs to”, Frank counter-argued without losing his smile, moving on to rub Gerard’s crotch with his ass since he couldn’t move his hands.

However, Gee’s face looked too serious and even annoyed, so Frank —finally— realized they weren’t playing a game of hard to get. “Seriously? You care that much about this bet?” he asked, about to get offended.

“Well, yeah?” said Gerard, as if it was obvious. “Don’t you? You agreed to it too.”

“It’s just a stupid bet, I don’t care if we lose it.”

“Honey…,” Gerard began saying, clearly about to make a strong statement, putting on his superiority face he sometimes wore and Frank couldn’t figure out yet if it made him mad or horny. “There’s no ‘we’ in this. You can lose by yourself if you want.”

Frank stared at Gerard feeling a little bit of both things. A devious smile formed on his lips. “Oh, so that’s how it is?” he asked, getting closer to kiss him roughly before standing up. “Fine. Okay, it’s FUCKIN’ ON.”

“It fuckin’ is,” Gerard replied, wiping the saliva excess on his lips with his sleeve.

“Just remember I tried to play nice,” Frank gave him as a last warning.

“I’ll make sure to thank you in my winning speech.”

Frank decided both of his middle fingers could give Gerard a clearer message than his words.

***

When Gerard and Frank finally joined in for the sound check, Mikey gave them an intense look that made them stay still for a few seconds, until he nodded and made a positive gesture towards Ray, who nodded too. Apparently they had passed the visual test for not having recent orgasms. And well, you didn’t need to be a psychic to notice it, because both of them were keeping at least two Jesus —Jesuses? Jesi?— of distance and tensed up expressions on their faces in a way that wouldn’t make you think ‘oh they have the hots for each other’ but rather ‘oh, they may actually kill each other if given weapons’; not really sweet release vibes.

“Check, check” Gerard spoke into the mic, evidently ignoring Frank when he walked near him to get to his own microphone and interrupt him.

“Check my dick, dick, dick, dick,” he said, alternating volumes, fortunately making the sound guy laugh and give him a thumbs up. “Butts, butts, butts,” he went on. Frank never knew when to kill a joke, he always kept going way after his audience stopped laughing. By the time he started making fart noises, Gerard had already tuned out.

The Warped Tour was intense. They ran from one place to another without any time to catch their breaths, from interviews, meet & greets and ridiculous contest radio stations planned for them, to what actually was playing music in front of an audience with their schedules constantly changing. Everything about this tour was exhausting. Gerard didn’t even know how he managed to find the time to get into Frank’s pants.

Well, it hadn’t been a premeditated thing, as one could expect. It just happened on a night where both of them were too tired to get out with the rest, but not as much to go to bed at 8pm. They had sat in front of the TV to watch Star Trek and at some point, Frank rested his legs on Gerard’s lap. Gerard not only allowed it, but placed a hand on Frank’s thigh. Frank’s response was to put a hand on top of his. It went on like a human jenga. It took some time, but they ended up staring at each other’s faces instead of the TV and even though Gerard didn’t want to admit it, it was him who tilted his head first and Frank followed him a few seconds later without asking any questions to seal the deal by kissing him on the lips. From then on, everything was a blur.

Until Mikey and Ray pointed it out, Gerard felt like they hadn’t stopped at all. It had been a month, almost half of the tour, getting constantly together, touching and rubbing against each other as if they had never done it with anybody else.

And the weirdest part? Frank hadn’t sat him down yet to have a serious conversation. Gerard thought it would happen as soon as their first encounter finished; actually, he was rather surprised Frank hadn’t taken him out of his mouth in the middle of sucking him off to ask if they were going to keep things casual or not. Wasn’t that his usual style? He knew Frank didn’t sleep around and wasn’t a casual type of guy. Frank was the complete opposite of casual, so intense and always looking for honest answers. And even if it wasn’t about sharing their feelings, Frank was responsible enough to want to sit Gerard down and talk about how this was going to affect the band, because if Frank cared about anything in the world, it was his career.

So, where was his very serious conversation? Didn’t he deserve one? No, he didn’t want to have it, but he would’ve liked to have the option to freak out about it and try to avoid it at all costs. Frank being all chill and only worried about fuckin’ was… weird. Suspicious. Gerard didn’t get it. And he wasn’t going to be the one who initiated a conversation because… he didn’t have the time, okay?

And he wanted to be left alone for a while. Shit. He missed so much being alone with his thoughts and having ideas, writing them down, actually drawing them. He loved —wait no, he casually enjoyed spending time with Frank, but he was really craving his own space. That’s why the stupid bet came as a blessing in disguise. Perhaps it would even force Frank to look for someone else when he inevitably lost first. 

“Take a picture, dude,” said Frank and Gerard noticed he had been staring directly at his face while lost in thought. Everybody laughed and grabbed their equipment. It was about time for the show to begin.

***

Another day on the calendar was marked once they got back to the bus that night. It was like a prisoner’s countdown to release, and they had marked in red their final shows in New Jersey, their home. It was still five weeks away. Gerard wondered for a minute if the bet would go on for that long and for the first time he doubted his will to last longer than the rest of them. Well, he could obviously resist for longer than Frankie, but he didn’t know if Ray and Mikey would have more endurance than him.

He turned around to study them. He supposed the celibacy effects would become more noticeable as days passed.

“I’m going out,” Mikey announced to the room, barely taking a few seconds to change his shirt into an arguably cleaner one.

“Party?” Ray asked, surely anxious to do something other than staying in to… not think about Gwen Stefani. Mikey nodded. “I’m in. Guys?” he addressed them.

“I’m beat,” Frank replied with a yawn and stretching his arms over his head, not stopping his walk towards the bunk area. Gerard’s gaze followed him focusing on his ass, which gained him a fake cough from Ray and a “C’mon!” from Mikey.

“What?” Gerard looked at them, blinking a lot. “Oh, no, I’m staying too. Need some _me_ time.”

“Okay, that’s the first one out of the contest,” said Mikey.

“Hey no, _me_ time means drawing.”

“Sure, Gee,” not even Ray was on his side.

“I’m still in the bet and I’ll remain in it once you get back,” he declared, determined. Also offended. Who the hell did they think they were?

“Make sure not to hurt yourself during _me_ time!” Mikey mocked him on his way out and Ray went along with more jokes and you know what? Not masturbating turned people mean. Once the bet was over Gerard would give them all a speech about how the whole thing was necessary to maintain the natural balance and harmony in the band.

With his hands on his hips, he turned around to see Frank with a ‘can you believe these guys’ face, but Frank wasn’t there. It was weird. It felt weird not to be all up in each other’s space the second they were left alone and his hands felt unusually empty without having his skin to touch.

He took a few steps towards the bunk area. Frank’s curtain was down and there was some light inside. He was probably reading.

So if sex was out the table, Frank wouldn’t go looking for him?

Good! That was exactly what Gerard wanted.

He smiled to himself and went back into the lounge, getting his pencil box and sketchbook, ready to enjoy a good time by himself. ALONE. COMPLETELY ALONE. What a concept. Simply paradisiac. Heaven on Earth. He didn’t have to explain what he was doing, or why he chose that color, and no one was going to be showing him their little ghost drawings expecting praises. Seeing it in that way, Frank sounded like a 5 year-old. It was funny.

Gerard genuinely enjoyed the first two hours of solitude, humming songs and finally putting down on paper all of the ideas he had pushed to the back of his mind being too busy with everything else that was happening. A million concepts had come to him while laying on his back staring at the ceiling with Frank at his side after getting each other off. It was the best moment, right after climaxing, still trying to catch his breath. Having his head empty, completely relaxed, and feeling Frank’s fingers caressing his naked chest, as if trying to trace his heartbeats. That’s where he felt the most creative.

But of course it was one thing to have ideas and another one to carry them out. He was grateful for finally having the time to get them done. 

Until he ran out of them. He really got to a point in which he didn’t know what else to do, he had spent all of his creative juices and found himself staring at pages and pages filled with drawings with nothing left on his mind.

Now what?

He pressed his lips together and looked around. Nobody had come back to the bus yet. Nights where they stayed in the same city were the best ones to party, so it wasn’t surprising. And those were the nights Frank and Gerard enjoyed the most.

He put away his art supplies and walked over to the bunk beds. There was no more light coming from any of them and he couldn’t believe Frank had just fallen asleep without telling him. Couldn’t they just chat? Or exchange a few innocent kisses, maybe feel each other up a bit? Huh? What a lack of manners, seriously.

Growling quietly, he changed into his excellent turquoise pajama pants, comfortable and fluffy, and got in his own bunk. Mikey and Ray had left them the bottom ones after many accidents starring him and Frank falling down trying to silently climb during the night. In that sense, they had been very accommodating. And it was easy to see why they were sick of Frank and Gerard.

Once he was tucked in his bed, Gerard seriously considered getting up and going to that party. He wasn’t tired enough to fall asleep and was starting to get antsy. Could it be that in those four weeks his body had gotten used to having Frank’s hands on it all the time? Because he was terribly missing them. His brain —and dick— didn’t seem to understand how the bus could be completely quiet and Gerard wasn’t trying to get Frank’s pants off. It didn’t make sense.

He turned to his side and stared in Frank’s direction through an opening in his own curtain. He couldn’t see anything, there was barely any light coming in from outside the bus. Had he really just went to sleep like that? Gerard kind of wanted to wake him up just because, only to have something to talk about.

Well, at least it didn’t look like he was having a good night's sleep, because he could hear him moving. They were about one meter —1,5 Jesus— away, he could hear everything. Frankie must have been turning around. And… maybe having a strange dream? His breathing was getting louder and for a split second, Gerard got worried and propped himself on his elbow to slide the curtain and pay more attention. Frank was being noisier than normal.

“Mh…”

And that was definitely a moan.

Gerard covered his mouth with his hand to avoid laughing out loud, because everything pointed out to Frank being the first one to lose the bet. Or at least being on his way to, so he shouldn’t interrupt him. Obviously Gerard still had a big and dumb smile on his face, satisfied with himself for proving the most important point: He could keep it in his pants. And this moment was proof enough that Frank was louder than him.

Because he was being loud as fuck. Gerard could tell Frank was trying to hold it in, but he could still hear perfectly those little needy groans with his agitated breathing.

And it was doing something for Gerard, if he had to be honest. Because it wasn’t only listening to him, he also knew how Frank looked when he did that. If Gerard closed his eyes, he could picture his furrowed eyebrows and mouth hanging open, the hair sticking to his face and his sweaty clothes clinging to his skin; surely Frank had only lowered his briefs to jerk off and had kept his Misfits t-shirt on. The one he had stolen from Gerard. Shit, he looked so fuckin’ good in it.

The bed started creaking and Gerard could imagine Frank’s hips moving persistently against his own hand, because he was impatient as fuck and always wanted things faster and harder. He always rushed Gerard to just do things and Gerard loved to tease him for it. If they had been jerking off together, that’d be the moment he would shove his fingers in Frank’s mouth so he would have something other to do than complain.

"Aahh…!”

A louder moan escaped from Frank’s mouth and Gerard felt it right between his legs. The fucker was getting him hard, probably assuming he was already asleep and could get away with masturbating and nobody finding out. The little shit.

Gerard pressed his lips together. He was dying to touch himself too and his hand slid inside his pants before he could make a conscious decision. But seriously, did it matter to lose the stupid bet? He barely remembered his reasoning for accepting, everything seemed weak when compared to masturbating while listening to Frank doing the same.

And truth be told, he didn’t care as long as he wasn’t the first one to lose. In this way, he would just take everything: his sweet release and some moral superiority. He didn’t need anything else, just had to make sure Frank finished first. He knew him well enough to know he was getting close, the creaking and moaning getting faster and louder.

“Mh, mh, mh,” he heard Frank. Picturing him biting his lips and trying to contain his noises was just as good as the idea of him believing no one would find out. Sweet, naive Frankie.

Gerard wrapped his fingers around his boner and spread precum all over it. If Frank knew how much he had affected him, he would never let it go. He thought Frank’s dick must have been just the same, exactly as wet and hot. Yeah, losing that bet was the best idea ever, they could probably just fuck after they were out of it and go back to their old ways. He couldn’t wait to get Frank’s mouth around his dick.

“Gerard…,” he heard. It had been barely a whisper, he wasn’t actually calling for Gerard, just thinking about him. Shit, he was surely fantasizing about the same, about being with him, about his hands or mouth. “Gee, mh… Gee…”

Gerard began thrusting upon his hand, following Frank’s moaning. Damn fucker. Gerard needed him to finish soon, he was now barely holding it in, almost about to come.

“Gee!” 

The last moan was a bit louder than the rest and Gerard was convinced Frank had reached his climax, so he licked his left hand and brought it down to cup his own balls, getting himself on the edge. He didn’t care if Frank heard him, it was best for him to realize Gerard wasn’t sleeping and knew what he had done.

Between waiting for Frank to finish and the approximately 26 hours without touching himself, Gerard came embarrassingly quick, trying very hard to contain it in his hand to not get his pajama pants dirty. His hair was wet and all over the place, and he was sure he had moaned pretty loudly, but it didn’t matter anymore. Nothing would wipe the smile off his face.

“GOTCHA, MOTHERFUCKER!”

Oh, well, maybe Frank sneaking up on him and screaming would wipe it off.

“W-what?” he asked, confused.

“YOU LOST!”

Gerard blinked a lot and realized Frank was not only fully dressed, but had a very notorious boner in his pants. “But… you were… Frankie, you just jerked off!”

“No, I didn’t!” he argued, pointing exactly where Gerard was looking. “I didn’t touch myself, I just made you think I was! And you lost!”

“Oh my God, you’re SUCH AN ASSHOLE!”

“At least I’m not A LOSER!”

Assuming Gerard would kill him as soon as he could coordinate himself enough to pull up his pants, Frank took the wise decision of getting out of his way, and immediately run to tell Mikey and Ray about his achievement.

Hopefully he wouldn’t give them too many embarrassing details.

***

“He fuckin’ tricked me, it shouldn’t count!” Gerard argued for the umpteenth time that day, more bitter than the previous ones because he was now handing the cash over to Mikey, who had been trusted with bookkeeping for some reason. “You should get out of the contest too,” he pointed his finger at Frank.

The little shit wouldn’t stop laughing. “Why? I’m still the master of my domains, if you catch my drift,” he waggled his eyebrows for emphasis. Gerard hated him, and his perfect eyebrows too.

“I don’t believe you. Why do you believe him?” he demanded staring at Mikey and Ray.

“He… um, provided proof,” Ray tried to explain.

“What kind of…?” Gerard interrupted his own question just as Mikey was gesturing for him not to even try. “This is such bullshit.”

“What did you say?” Frank asked, bringing a hand to his ear. “Sorry, I don’t speak LOSER.”

Gerard didn’t think about what kind of face he must have made for Ray and Mikey to shrug at the same time. “Don’t look at me, he’s _your_ boyfriend,” said Ray half joking, half serious. 

The half that was a joke wasn’t enough to soothe the little panic note Gerard felt. Should he explain? Did people think they were dating for real? Not that many people knew about them getting together, only the closest to the band, but, what if Frank had told them they were boyfriends? No, it couldn’t be possible, those things had to be talked about, you couldn’t just go around telling random strangers, it was dangerous and--

“Pfft, he wishes,” said Frank. “I don’t date LOSERS.”

Everyone laughed and Gerard forced himself to do it too, despite still being furious about Frank making him lose the bet, and not agreeing 100% with that joke. Not with the content of it, he obviously agreed they weren’t dating, but the way in which he said just wasn’t funny, okay? It was 12 year-old humor. No, 5 year-old. Gerard could have said something way funnier, just not right now. He would be awake at 3am with the perfect comeback for sure.

“Guys, you’re up in 5,” one of the coordinators came to let them know and the conversation had to end up there, because even though it looked like they had nothing better to do than cockblock Gerard and Frank or discuss their masturbatory habits, the truth was they had been hired to play music.

They did all of their rituals before getting on stage and Gerard kept his face as friendly as possible when it was time to high-five Frank, who also pretended nothing had happened. They were professionals, of course they could keep their disputes away from their jobs, nothing would interfere with the music or the band.

Except Gerard was still salty as fuck. 

He figured if Frank had made him lose, then he could return the favor. Not only had he known Frank long enough as a bandmate, but also more than he should as a fuck-partner, so he had all of the insider information he could need about how to push his buttons and how hard. He knew how to rile him up and he would use every single dirty trick he could think of until Frank was begging for him to touch him and lose the bet.

And what better way to start than on the stage itself? As it was it gave Frank enough adrenaline to get turned on, he always left their performances with a huge boner, so half his job was already done. In all of that month they had been getting in each other’s pants, most of them had been after shows. It would be like stealing candy from a toddler. Or another better metaphor. Piece of cake? Whatever.

He gave Frank absolutely everything. Each time he could find an excuse to get in his space, he did, walking over to his side of the stage to grab his ass, jerk off his mic, lick his neck, feel up his chest, get his hands under his shirt, pull on his belt, grind behind him, moan in his ear, etc. The works, all of them. He even got the audience to roar if they thought Frank was hot and managed to make him blush with their unanimous response. It almost made him forget he was mad at him and wanted revenge with how adorable he was. 

By the time the show was over, Gerard was sure he had Frank ready to go and was already anticipating how they could both get him out of the bet. A backstage blow job or a quickie in the restroom, he was horny enough for any and let Frank know when their gazes met by licking his lips and winking at him.

Frank smiled wide in response and then turned his back on him, walking away without looking back, not even once.

What the actual fuck?

***

Gerard had to admit he wasn’t used to not having an effect on Frank. It was obviously because of the bet, he wouldn’t dare to doubt his charm, but… okay, he thought it would be easier to make him slip. And he also didn’t consider Frank would flat out ignore him. They were supposed to have a meeting in the bus to discuss the next set list and he wasn’t there yet. Gerard kept peeking out the door.

“A watched pot never boils,” said Mikey.

“A wAtChEd PoT nEvEr BoIls,” Gerard repeated, mockingly.

“I had forgotten how annoying you get when no one’s paying attention to you.”

“I hAd FoRgOt--”

“Sexy voice”, Frank interrupted, getting inside the bus while Gerard was busy making such a smart statement to his brother. “Are we discussing the set list?”

When Frank passed him by, Gerard moved on purpose in front of him, making sure to rub his ass against Frank’s crotch on his way. Yes, bold move, so what?

He sat down crossing his arms and stared at Frank, whose face seemed a bit warm. “Take a picture, dude,” said Gerard, way more bitter than he would’ve wanted to. He was in a terrible mood and he was the only one who had been able to release some tension.

“Someone needs a nap,” Frank suggested and then had THE MOTHERFUCKIN’ AUDACITY of sitting next to Mikey instead of using the empty chair next to him, which finally was occupied by Ray.

Suddenly they were surrounded by their crew and got to work. Gerard made an effort to actively participate in analyzing their previous shows and planning the next ones, but his gaze kept going to Frank when he was sure he was looking him back, but their eyes never met. He was either imagining it or Frank was too quick in averting his look. It was driving him insane.

Gerard hadn’t played that particular game in so long. Things had been straight-forward, fast, satisfactory. You wanna fuck? Sure I do. Let’s. And now, somehow, he was back on trying to understand gazes? It was ridiculous. A stupid bet shouldn’t make them go back like that.

“We’re done here, right?” Frank spoke out of the blue, at least for Gerard, who watched him get up from his seat and couldn’t even enjoy the view of his ass with how much he was furrowing his eyebrows.

“Where do you think you’re going?” he asked before consulting with his brain if that was an appropriate thing to say in front of the whole crew, and in general to Frank.

“I think I’m going wherever the fuck I want,” Frank replied and put on a face that said he really couldn’t believe they were having that exchange. “Is that okay with you?”

“I’m going too,” Gerard resolved, ignoring the question.

“Is _you_ time over?”

Gerard resented the remark so much he had to take a moment to think of a comeback and still couldn’t come up with one. “Let’s just fuckin’ go.”

At least Frank had the decency of not pointing out Gerard’s lack of his usual wittiness and just made a gesture for the rest of the group to join them if they wanted to. It wasn’t a VIP party or something like that, just the normal gathering of people outside the buses to get drunk and smoke. Gerard felt like he hadn’t been part of any of that in years, he almost didn’t know what to do with himself and since he wasn’t drinking, he chose to smoke.

Soon he remembered there was a certain appeal to being the only sober one. People didn’t give a shit how awkwardly he was standing or how uncomfortable he looked, and it only took a few well put string of words with a somewhat funny inflection to make them all burst out laughing. It was easy; not really entertaining after a while, but still easy. He was surrounded by a good group because apparently High School was over and being on Warped Tour for the second time had made Gerard part of the popular ones, for once. Wow. Who would’ve thought?

But Frank was in another group and no, he hadn't looked in his direction at all. Oh, what a shit show. The phrase he had said kept going around Gerard’s head: “I tried to play nice.” And now he was starting to feel like an idiot for not taking the offer of losing together. What the fuck had he been trying to prove? And how much longer was Frank going to punish him for it?

Feeling his throat a bit tired from smoking so much and practically having to yell his jokes at drunk people, Gerard grabbed a bottle of water, getting away from the group to rest his back on one of the buses. He didn’t have much patience these days for hanging out with strangers, maybe he was too old. Well, he had always been too bitter for his age.

When he raised his gaze from the ground, he found Frank looking at him for the first time tonight. Gerard couldn’t tell if it meant something because who the fuck knew anymore, right? But he seemed worried, maybe. Gerard showed him his water bottle as if to say ‘I’m over here hydrating, not considering falling back to alcoholism’ and Frank smiled. It felt good.

He brought the bottle to his lips, noticing Frank hadn’t stopped staring and wondered if he was getting horny already. Truth be told, he always felt Frank wanted his clothes to evaporate when he looked at him, like it was the normal balance of things. He didn’t even think he was taking him for granted.

Well, Gerard never let an audience go to waste, so he got his tongue out and licked around the neck of the bottle, staring at him with intention. It took him a moment to open up his lips and slide the bottle inside, hollowing his cheeks while sucking on it. He had to remind him of how good he was at giving head. Of course he had already demonstrated it tirelessly, his mouth having a serious relationship with Frank’s dick, sharing almost more time together than their owners did. And fuck did Gerard miss feeling him down his throat. His own mimic was turning him on. 

Good thing everyone around them was too drunk to pay attention to how he was fellating a plastic bottle.

Frank bit his lip and tugged on his ring. Gerard felt shivers down his spine. Finally, he had him!

With a smile on his lips, he moved his index finger in a clear “C’mere.” For a second it seemed like Frank was about to obey, but he didn’t move from his spot, just rolled his eyes and shook his head. He took the first opportunity that came along to join another conversation, far away from Gerard.

Gee punched the bus behind him and set off the alarm. What a shitty night.

Before attracting more attention to himself, he chose to sneak out to his own bus and just go to sleep. It seemed like the only thing he could do these days, going to bed alone and angry, and everything was so unfair because first Frank made him lose and then he cut him off from sex? Seriously? Shitty behavior.

He turned his back on Frank’s bunk while changing into his pajamas, as if that counted as ignoring him back. The situation had reminded him of the time before they started fuckin’, but now he thought this was worse. Back then it was both of them flirting and okay, maybe he had ignored Frank a couple of times and was now regretting it. He didn’t know it felt like this, because Frank never rejected him. Was this a taste of his own medicine? ‘Cause it sucked and he wanted to be done with it.

He folded his arms on his chest under the covers in his bed and stared at the bunk on top, furrowing his eyebrows. How could Frank be capable of only two moods? “Fuck me, please” and “fuckin’ die, I don’t care.”

For fuck’s sake. Gerard knew why that was possible.

He took out his phone to send Frank a message: “And I don’t date Scorpios.”

Perfect comeback, just a bit late.

***

“Gee, I’m sure,” said Mikey for the third time, tired. “I’ve been around him most of the time and he hasn’t done anything.”

“How the fuck is that possible? It’s been… what? Five days?” Gerard had to stop and count, surprising himself with the number.

“Yeah, and I have no idea. By now I’m thinking Ray will lose next. And I hope he does soon, I can’t stand him anymore. I might kill him.”

“Try not to, I don’t think it’ll be enough with just the two of us to carry his body.”

Hard to believe as it was, the three of them were still in the competition. Gerard knew Mikey wouldn’t lie about it and Ray was so on edge about everything —from how his guitar sounded to why the hell were they such lazy fucks who couldn’t keep the bus clean— that they sort of wanted to give him a free pass to jerk off and some magazines with current pop stars on the cover.

And Frank kept giving Gerard the cold shoulder. It wasn’t going as far as to ignore him when other people were around, but he hadn’t allowed even a second for them to be alone and always made sure to keep at least 3 Jesuses of distance. It sucked. And it made sense that he hadn’t lost the bet, because Gerard had a good view of his morning wood a few hours ago. He had no idea how he could endure it. Just from the sight of the tent in his boxers Gerard had to go and rub one off. 

However, it hadn’t been satisfactory at all. He was sick of his own hand, he wanted Frank’s. Or his mouth. Or any other body parts. He would take anything at this point.

Gerard never thought he would need him so much, or that Frank would need him so little.

“You take that interview,” Mikey pointed with his chin where Frank was moving his hands around asking them to join him and a reporter. “Ray and I will take the other one.”

“Okay, don’t let him murder anyone. And don’t murder him either,” he instructed, patting Mikey’s shoulder before getting on his own mission.

He put on his sunglasses and ruffled his hair, hoping it would look good since there were no mirrors in sight. There wasn’t even much sunlight, they were about to call it a day, just rounding up the last activities and the sun was going down, but sunglasses were part of his aesthetics. Besides, he hadn’t been sleeping well.

They chose one of the tables and the reporter sat across from the two of them. Honestly, sitting next to each other like that was the closest they had been in a few days, except for the short distance between their bunks. Gerard felt his heart racing. He couldn’t believe how much of a Victorian maiden he had become. And he hated how calm Frank was.

“So guys, how has this year been different than the previous one?” It was probably the twentieth time they had been asked exactly the same. Gerard was sick of that question.

Frank took charge and gave the repeated speech, talking with his hands as he usually did and Gerard nodded when needed, interrupting as some new ideas came along, which weren’t many at the moment. Frank still looked at him seeking approval and Gerard loved it, glad it was still a thing they could do.

It all went as any old regular interview until the reporter dared to ask: “And what’s going on between you two? Any scoop you want to give us?”

They stared at each other and couldn’t help but laugh awkwardly, because it had been a while since they were asked directly about their relationship and of course it was time to bring back the political statement bit, which Frank always let Gerard carry, but he wasn’t in the mood for it.

Instead, he held Frank’s hand, intertwined their fingers, and brought it to his lips. “I love Frankie,” he explained, smiling. “He’s my best friend.”

Even if he was caught off guard, Frank let out his high-pitched laugh and rested his head on Gee’s shoulder. “This is what friends look like.”

“Yeah, ‘cause you know what? Girls get to be all touchy-feely with their friends and guys have to be like all macho and no feelings and ‘hey bro.’ Fuck that. If you wanna give your homie a kiss, you should do it.”

Frank kissed him on the cheek and the reporter made some comment about toxic masculinity that had them nodding along. Gerard had missed touching Frank so much that he couldn’t help tightening the grip on his hand to keep it there, barely paying attention to what was being said. His thumb caressed the skin available and his heart rate kept going up, getting way too excited about such a minimal touch. He tilted his head and felt Frank’s hair on his face.

Without stopping the nodding and uh-huhs, he slowly pulled Frank’s hand and got it between his thighs, making the back of it graze his crotch. It was barely anything, but it made him shiver. It was letting Frank know he still wanted him, and making it hard for him to escape in an obvious way since they were being watched. It was a secret between them.

Gerard pushed both of their hands a bit harder against his bulge and pressed his lips together, as if he was thinking deeply about the question they had just been asked. “I think the punk scene is ready for it…”

He heard Frank swallow and noticed how he carefully released his hand. Maybe Gerard had taken it too far, with them being in the middle of an interview and making him touch his boner… Well, just having one at all was taking it too far and he was already thinking about apologizing later when Frank intervened. “We’ve always been ahead of our time,” he said as if he wasn’t getting his hand back on Gerard’s dick and giving it a squeeze under the table.

“Mh-hm,” Gerard turned what could’ve been a moan into an affirmative sound and managed to carry on with the idea that Frank had started, talking in auto-pilot about what their music meant and what their purpose was while he felt Frank’s fingers tracing his cock on the thick jean fabric. What the fuck were they doing? No idea, but he was all up for it. Figuratively and physically. 

After that last answer the interview was over. The reporter thanked them and turned around to approach another band, barely a few meters away from them. Frank and him stayed sitting together for a while and Gerard just reached his limit. He got closer to Frank’s ear and whispered: “We could be fuckin’ right now if you weren’t so stubborn.”

“You won’t make me lose, Gerard,” he said, smiling full of himself. “Be grateful that I touched you at all,” he added in a lower volume and got his hand out of where it was.

“I don’t care about that,” Gerard rushed to say and placed an arm around Frank’s shoulder to keep him close, getting back to speaking into his ear. “I just want your cock.”

Frank sighed and shut his eyes, maybe asking the Universe for patience or to calm his body down. “Is that so?” He tried to play it cool.

“Don’t you wanna fuck me?”

“The bus is locked,” Frank argued, avoiding the actual answer to that question.

“So what?”

“We don’t have any lube.”

Gerard smiled a bit, knowing he was destroying what little could be left of Frank’s resolution. He just needed one last push and it came in the form of a short lick on his ear. “You could get me wet with your tongue.”

“Fuck,” Frank muttered, tightening his fists. “I hate you so fuckin’ much.”

***

It was already dark outside when they stepped away from the group and snuck behind their bus, which was empty, but didn’t make it any less risky and stupid not to wait until being inside of it to at least make sure that any interruptions during the act would be from people they trusted. None of them were thinking too clearly and if something really bad happened, they would have to file for temporary insanity due to too much time without touching each other.

As soon as they got the chance, Frank pressed Gerard against the back of the bus and kissed the shit out of him. They had always exchanged some pretty amazing kisses, but this one was by far the best one; all heated, tongue everywhere and spit getting down their chins. Gerard was already moaning in it and didn’t know how he was supposed to keep quiet when it was _that_ good.

Not wanting to waste even a second, Gerard undid his buckle and went on to his jeans. He figured Frank could still back out if given enough time to think.

“You really want me to rim you?” he asked with his voice already affected and staring directly at the skin Gerard was exposing, just in time to see him undo his fly and show him he wasn’t wearing anything else.

“Yeah… please, I miss your tongue so much,” he replied, lowering his jeans mid-thigh and turning around so he was facing the bus. He hoped Frank wouldn’t humiliate him by leaving him like that after asking him to do it, but just in case he decided to make the request harder to decline by bringing a hand to spread his own cheeks and show him what he was in for.

“Fuck…” Frank muttered, equally pissed and horny. “Fuck you like, forever, you know?”

Frank dropped to his knees on the ground without a care for how obvious it would be to have dirt on them and just got both hands on Gerard’s ass to spread him further, getting his tongue immediately out to lick his hole. And he did it just as he felt: anxious, needy and hungry. There was no delicacy or teasing, just tongue in every inch of skin he could reach and inside his asshole the minute Gerard relaxed enough to let him in. 

“Oh, fuck… Frankie,” Gerard moaned, so grateful he didn’t know how he managed to speak in a whisper instead of yelling. He shut his eyes and pushed his ass backwards, asking him to go deeper and Frank complied, because he was an amazing guy and Gerard couldn’t remember why they hadn’t been doing exactly that all of the time. “More… please…”

Frank added a finger and Gerard moved to reach the pocket of his jacket, taking out a travel size bottle of lube. “You motherfucker,” Frank complained, getting his face away from Gerard’s ass for a second. 

“Don’t hate me,” said Gerard in a low voice, looking back at him with a tiny smile as an apology.

The only answer he got was Frank shoving two lubed fingers up his ass and Gerard bit his lip not to scream, which was getting difficult, because he kind of liked Frank being rougher than usual. It was just what he needed after their time apart. And his body was giving in easily, he barely noticed when he had a third finger inside of him, going in and out without resistance. “Go on, I’m ready…”

Frank took his fingers out and searched his own pocket for a condom, which he unrolled down his way too hard erection after undoing his pants and lowering his briefs. As soon as Gerard felt him going inside, he realized Frank really hadn’t jerked off since the bet, because he had never felt him as hard as he was now. 

“Fuck, Jesus…” said Frank, gritting his teeth. Gerard briefly thought of making a joke about not having room for him now, but the idea had to be replaced with some more moaning, because Frank began pounding into him immediately. It was just what he wanted.

Music, laughter and chatting could be heard from far away. Part of Gerard knew they had to be quick and that every minute that passed the risk of getting caught in the middle of it was higher, but the rest of him wanted it to last forever. He couldn’t believe he had gone that long without getting fucked.

And he could tell Frank wasn’t handling it too well either. He was letting out short and needy moans directly into Gerard’s ear, as if it wasn’t already difficult enough to deal with his own overheated body. He wanted to turn around and hug him, tell him everything would be okay, give him the greatest blow job ever until he was satisfied. Well, he guessed lending him his ass should be just as good.

“Gee…” Frank’s tone was getting a bit high-pitched. “Gee… I-I can’t…”

“It’s okay,” he replied without thinking, raising a hand to caress his hair. “Just come, it’s fine…”

“No, I…” Frank’s thrusts got slower as he reached his ear again to speak in a lower volume. “Can we switch?”

The request really managed to surprise Gerard. “Now?”, he asked, totally disoriented.

“Yes, please… Gee, please…”

“Frankie… can we do it… tomorrow?” somehow he found the strength to say while trying to fuck himself on Frank’s cock, but the guy wasn’t moving at all and it was getting frustrating. “Or later…”

“No, I need it now,” he insisted. “Please, I… I want it…”

“Frank…”

“It’s not enough,” he gave as an explanation and Frank’s voice got really whiny as he continued. “I need your cock in my ass, now…”

“Shit…” Gerard complained, because if he was weak against something it was Frank begging and even though they had never switched in the middle of fuckin before’, he couldn’t just say no. “You got another condom?”

Frank moved to pull out and got another silver packet from his pocket, which he put in Gerard’s hand. Was the whole situation ridiculous or just hot as fuck? He would have to decide later. “Thanks…” Frank whispered, hopefully aware of how bratty he was being.

It was Frank’s turn to place his hands on the bus and turn his back on Gerard, who got the bottle out again and squirted lube on his fingers, immediately bringing them to circle around Frank’s asshole. He pressed his chest on Frank’s back and said to his ear: “We gotta do this fast.”

“I know, I know…” Frank nodded, spreading his legs so he had better access to prepare him. To be honest, after everything that went on, Gerard was enjoying having him being so obedient.

“You should’ve told me you wanted to bottom,” he said anyway, since he could. Even though he wasn’t against the idea, it wasn’t the best feeling in the world having his asshole so wet and open, and also stopping in the middle of fuckin’.

“I… sorry,” Frank managed to reply, which was difficult now that he was feeling Gerard’s fingers inside of him. “I’m just… so fuckin’ horny…”

Well, he thought he could understand that, and that’s why he was cooperating in giving him just what he wanted, applying more lube to his fingers before getting another one in. “And after you rejected me so much,” he reminded him. “I should leave you just like this.”

“No!” Frank turned around a bit and held Gerard’s wrist. “Don’t you dare!”

Instead of trying to remove his fingers, Gerard made them go deeper, getting a long and needy moan from Frank when he touched his prostate. “That’s better.”

“Please, c’mon, that’s enough…”

Frank’s voice sounded so wrecked, Gerard couldn’t wait anymore; as fun as it seemed to make him beg some more for it, he was also about to explode. It was already difficult enough coordinating his hands to rip open the condom packet and unroll it on his dick, his hands slippery from all of the lube he was using to compensate for not taking enough time to open Frank up. Well, the guy was still an impatient little shit and it had rubbed off on Gerard, at least this time.

He still teased him by grabbing his own cock and circling it around his asshole without pushing in. “C’mon… just fuckin’ do it…” Frank pleaded and it was starting to sound like he could cry any moment now from frustration.

Gerard gripped Frank’s hips with both hands and went all in. Frank’s moaning was the most grateful he had heard him since knowing him; Gerard was pretty proud about it. He began pulling out and back in immediately, a little rough, and Frank was okay with it, still making heated up sounds as if Gerard’s cock was a divine gift meant just for him, and what both of them needed right now was not stopping until they were done.

It was by far the boldest thing they had ever done. Yes, they had been caught a few times, but only by people who shared the bus with them. Now they were full on having anal sex barely hidden by the bus and some trees. It was a miracle no one had come looking for them yet. Both their jeans were already around their ankles, so it wouldn’t be easy to cover up and pretend they were bird-watching.

“Mh… Gee…”, Frank groaned, clearly making an effort not to scream. “I can’t… I’m-I’m gonna…”

“Me too”, Gerard confessed and rested his forehead on Frank’s shoulder, tightening his grip on his hips while his thrusts got faster and harder, no coordination whatsoever, just seeking the friction he needed. Frank got a hand around his own boner and jerked off for about two seconds before cumming in the condom he still had on —luckily for the bus. Gerard didn’t take much longer to reach his own orgasm.

Still panting out of control, Gerard pulled out. Both of them took off the used condoms and shared a guilty look before tossing them away into the wild, as far as they could. That shit was kinda biodegradable, right? Well, sorry environment, they had to get dressed as quickly as possible.

While they got their clothes back on, Frank opened his mouth to say something. Gerard thought it would be some snarky remark about the bet or a praise on how good it had been, or even asking for them not to go so many days without it again, but he didn’t say any of those, just gave him a look Gerard couldn’t decipher.

“What?” he urged him to speak.

“Doesn’t matter.”

Frank wiped his hands on his jeans and took a step to go back to the group, but Gerard stopped him by grabbing his arm. “Hey, no. What’s wrong?”

“It’s… dumb. And lame.”

“I can deal with that.”

“Gee,” Frank turned around and faced him, staring finally into his eyes, but looking serious and maybe a bit shy. “Did you miss me? At all?”

“Of course I did,” he said immediately. Frank shook his head.

“Not the sex. Me.”

Gerard blinked and stayed silent despite knowing he shouldn’t take such a big pause to answer a simple question just because it caught him off guard. Separating Frank and sex was something he hadn’t needed to do in the past weeks, so it took him a minute to figure out what he was supposed to say.

“Never mind. Forget it.”

“No! Frankie, of course I missed you,” he realized he didn’t need to overthink it. “You were completely ignoring me, I hated it. I like being around you, you know that. I liked it before we started fuckin’ and I still do.”

“So… you’re not sick of me?”

“Why would you think that?” Instead of answering, Frank averted his gaze and shoved his hands inside his pockets. Gerard got to the answer without his help. “Because I wanted to be alone?”

“Yeah… I thought, you know, maybe I was annoying you.”

“You could never…,” he started saying and had to stop. “Okay, you can be annoying when you want to. But I’d never get sick of you. I just… like to be alone sometimes”, he shrugged.

“The thing is… I know you do. We’ve known each other for years, I shouldn’t take it personally when you get lost in your own world,” Frank explained and Gerard nodded. “And I did, because… I guess not knowing what this thing between us is makes me too anxious.”

Oh. They were having _the_ conversation. This was it. Very serious conversation.

“What do you want it to be?”

“I asked you first,” Frank smiled a bit and Gerard smiled back.

“You didn’t phrase it as a question.”

Frank sighed and got closer, kicking him softly in the shin. “You know I want everything with you, don’t play dumb now.”

Gerard’s heart started beating so fast with the declaration that he knew he didn’t need a second thought about what he wanted. Shit, that serious conversation was seriously awesome. “Let’s, then,” he offered, as easy as everything else had come. “Let’s have everything.”

He held out his hand and Frank took it.

  
  


***

In case walking over to Mikey holding hands after disappearing who knows where for more than half an hour wasn’t clear enough, Frank said out loud: “I’m out, I’m no longer the master of my domain”, accompanying his words with some bills he put on the table.

“I figured,” he answered, not surprised at all.

“We’re dating,” Gerard took the chance to say, a proud smile on his face.

“I figured,” Mikey repeated.

“Oh my God, you guys!” They suddenly heard Ray’s voice behind them. “You’re officially dating?! That’s so cool, congratulations! I’m so happy for you!”

As soon as they turned around, Frank and Gerard’s faces were buried in Ray’s hair, who gave them a hug so tight it knocked the air out of both of them.

“And Ray’s out too,” Mikey announced. “Pay up.”

***

**Author's Note:**

> My prompt was 'semi-public sex' and I had so much fun with it! Hope you enjoyed reading too.  
> Please leave room for Jesus in the comments. 🙏🏻
> 
> PS: I'm on [Twitter.](https://twitter.com/kitoko69)


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